


Meet The Kids

by Chrystie, kate882



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: F/F, Fluff, M/M, single dad Dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 10:40:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14470869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrystie/pseuds/Chrystie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate882/pseuds/kate882
Summary: “Dad,” Tim tugged at Dick’s pants. “Just get his number. I want to get ice cream.”





	Meet The Kids

Jason was minding his own business, shopping in the freezer aisle for some frozen vegetables, when very suddenly two children came running into the aisle shouting at each other.  

“Steph! Give it back!” A little boy called after a blond girl who, with zero hesitation, ran at Jason and grabbed his leg.

“Um-” he started to say, but was shocked into silence when she just started climbing him and ended up on his shoulders.

“If you can reach it you can have your game back,” she called down to the boy, and he could just hear the smug grin in her voice, even as a tired looking man came around the corner, calling out for “Steph and  Tim,” who Jason presumed were the children.

The man’s eyes widened comically at the sight of where the girl was. “Stephanie!” He ran up to Jason, giving her a very stern look before redirecting his eyes to Jason sheepishly. “I’m so sorry, my daughter’s a bit of a trouble maker. Here I’ll get her off of you,” He held out his hands to reach for her, but looked at Jason first to see if it was okay.

“It’s fine. You should probably teach her about stranger danger though,” Jason answered.

“You don’t look dangerous,” Stephanie informed Jason, clinging tighter to him to keep the man from removing her. “I don’t want to get down! Timmy will just take the game back, and it’s my turn to play!”

“But you can’t climb up strangers just because Timmy is being unfair. Now you’re going to let go of this nice man and Tim is going to let you have your turn, okay?” He looked to both his kids.

“It’s my game, why would she get a turn?” Tim argued.

“In this family we value sharing. Both of you and your bro-” The man gasped in terror. “Oh my God, both of you stay here. I’m so sorry, sir, I’ll be right back, I swear.” The man ran off and just a moment later, he came back with a half filled shopping cart with a toddler in the seat.

“You forgot Damian,” Steph said accusingly, from where she was still clinging to Jason. He’d tried to remove her while her father was gone, but she’d threatened to start screaming.

“Because you two ran off. Now let go of him before I make you spend the rest of the trip sitting next to the eggs.” The pointed threateningly at the cart.

“You won’t have room for everything else,” she said, apparently unphased.

“I will if half of it ends up in your lap and Timmy holds the excess.”

She reluctantly climbed back down Jason, who relaxed a little now that he didn’t have to worry about her falling. “He’s not even a stranger. He’s Jenny’s sister’s teacher,” Stephanie muttered.

“Isn’t Jenny’s sister sixteen?” Tim asked. “Why do you know that?”

“Because I had a sleepover at Jenny’s and her sister was talking about him to her friend and had a picture.”

Well… that was a little unsettling. Jason hadn’t noticed any of his students taking his picture. He’d have to get more vigilant about phones in class.

“That doesn’t mean it’s okay to climb on him.” The man looked back up to Jason and somehow managed to look more tired than he already did. “This probably wasn’t how you imagined your night going. I’m really sorry.”

“I can’t say I imagined becoming a jungle gym, no, but it’s really fine. No harm done,” he offered a small smile.

“She should still know better,” he gave her a stern look. “I’m Dick,” he stuck his hand out towards Jason.

“He’s Mr. Todd,” Stephanie said from where she was now clinging to Dick’s leg to keep Tim from snatching the game back.

“Well, she’s right. Jason Todd. Nice to meet you, Dick,” Jason answered, shaking the offered hand.

“Nice to meet you too, considering my daughter somehow just happens to know more about a high school teacher than an elementary school kid should.”

“It’s not my fault Jenny’s sister has a big mouth,” she defended.

“It must be genetic,” Tim muttered, and Stephanie glared at him, sticking out her tongue.

“Both of you be nice. You’re setting terrible examples for Damian.” The toddler, who had been oddly silent for a toddler during the whole ordeal, didn’t even really acknowledge his siblings fighting, seeming more content to just glare at nothing and hold a box of cereal to his small chest. “I’m guessing this experience is reinforcing your decision to teach high school instead of elementary, right?”

Jason let out a short laugh. “Not really. High schoolers can be pretty bad too. And apparently at least one of them is taking pictures of me and showing them to elementary schoolers.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised. I’m sure many of your students think you’re a heart throb,” Dick chuckled.

“Being a heartthrob to a bunch of fifteen and sixteen year olds isn't as glamorous as you might think,” Jason told him. “Mostly it's just weird, and causes classroom distractions.” 

“No no, I completely get it, it is really weird. The best you can do is tell them no and hope they leave it at that.”

“You got experience with rejecting teens?” Jason asked curiously.

“Just the ones that skip school to smoke. It’s funny, but they’re less worried about being approached by a police officer than most adults.”

“Can't be tried as adults, and won't actually go to jail for skipping school. Less to worry about,” Jason answered. “You a school cop then?”

“Dad,” Tim tugged at Dick’s pants. “Just get his number. I want to get ice cream.”

Dick’s face turned a light shade of pink, “Tim! Don’t make me make you sit next to the eggs.” He couldn’t really look Jason in the eyes after that. “Sorry. He’s really good at getting what he wants. But to answer you, I’m just a regular cop, my patrol route just passes by the alleyways close to a high school.”

“Oh which one? You might be picking up my truancy committers.”

“Dad,” Tim whined.

Dick frowned down at his son. “Gotham High. And as much as I like talking to you, my son is being needy for ice cream.”

“Ah, you are catching my kids then,” Jason answered. “But it's fine, you can go. I didn't mean to hold you up from your shopping.”

“I mean you aren’t holding up anything, it was my kids that ran at you. Besides, Timmy just hasn’t learned the value of patience yet, but I might take some of his advice before we go and hope for your number?”

“Daddy’s single,” Stephanie chimed in, smiling widely up at Jason, who looked surprised but laughed all the same. 

“Well, in that case, I guess I could give him my number,” he told Stephanie before looking at Dick and holding out his hand for Dick’s phone.

“Daddy, are you going to be boyfriends with Mr. Todd?” Steph asked as Jason put in his number and sent himself a text. “He’s prettier than my boyfriend,” she added.

Dick gasped, “What boyfriend? Stephanie, you are six.” He looked like he was going to have a freak out. The toddler in the cart reached out and patted his arm.

“Josh. He came to mine and Timmy’s birthday party. He bought me ice cream at school last week and asked me to be his girlfriend.”

“I thought you had a girlfriend,” Tim chimed in, frowning at her, apparently upset to be left out of the loop.

“I do.” She shrugged.

And Dick looked like he was going to have an aneurysm. “Stephanie, how many people are you dating?”

“Just Josh and Kathy. It's not a big deal.”

“She's going to be a heartbreaker when she grows up,” Jason chuckled.

“I know,” Dick groaned, “I’m dreading the day.” He didn’t look like he was going to reprimand his daughter anymore, but he looked like he was ready to sleep for a week.

“And Timmy likes a boy!” She added excitedly.

“I do not!” Tim’s face was completely red though.

“Do so,” she countered.

“Oh my God, you’re both so young for this.” Dick took in a deep breath, it appeared his problem wasn’t that they were interested in people, it was being prepared enough to talk to them about feelings and relationships. “Steph, don’t tease your brother. Too much. Timmy, there’s nothing wrong with liking a boy, just spend more time with him and maybe try sharing with him. You know, the thing you won’t do with your sister.”

“Timmy already spends all of recess with him, and lunch time,” Stephanie rolled her eyes. “I think he's in looovveee,” she practically sang.

“Love is a strong word.” Dick looked to Jason with a haggard frown. “I’m not prepped for this. I thought I wasn’t going to have to deal with them being interested in people until they were at least thirteen. That’s still a solid seven years.”

“Dude, thirteen year olds are already having,” Jason glanced at the kids, “sleepovers,” he finished.

Dick grimaced, “Don’t crush my already crushed hopes.”

Jason shrugged. “You gotta be ready for it. But I'll refrain from telling you some of the crazy things I hear the fifteen year olds saying.”

“That would be very appreciated.” He looked back down at his two kids. “Both of you, remember that you should only kiss people if you really really like them.”

“I know that already. That's why I only kiss Kathy and Josh,” Stephanie shrugged.

And again, Dick looked like he was struggling to not just fall over and lay on the floor. “Okay. But it’s still important you both know that.”

The toddler in the cart was apparently getting impatient because he started reaching towards Dick and moving around in the seat.

Dick sighed and hugged the little toddler. “Never grow up, Dami.” The toddler slapped the back of his head in what was probably supposed to be a comforting pat.

Dick pulled away to smile at Jason again. “Sorry you had to put up with all this.”

“It's really fine. This is almost refreshing compared to high school drama.”

“Daaaaddd, just call him, I want ice cream,” Tim whined.

“I should get going, but I’ll call you?” He looked hopeful.

“Yeah, definitely,” Jason grinned at him as Tim started trying to pull Dick towards the ice cream.

* * *

“Daddy, daddy!” Stephanie shouted as she ran into the house, going straight to Dick. “I need advice.”

“About what?” Dick called from the kitchen. He’d never been the best cook for himself, but with kids he’d essentially forced himself to at least learn the simple things.

“I broke up with Kathy and Josh because I think I'm in love with a new girl. But I don't know what to do now,” she told him, using a chair to climb up on the counter so she could sit down and still be closer to his height.

Dick had accepted the fact that his children were at the age where they were interested in people, but it was still hard to find the right things to tell them when all he wanted to do was tell them to shield their precious little hearts and not date. “Well it’s good that you broke up with them if you don’t think you like them as much anymore. Have you talked to the new girl?”

Steph shook her head. “She's so pretty, I tried and I couldn't say anything. Her name is Cass and she just transferred into our class.”

Tim walked into the kitchen after her, looking a little winded. “You ran off without me,” he accused.

“You were taking too long to get off the bus. I needed to talk to dad,” she answered.

“You still shouldn’t leave your brother behind. You two are a team and need to stick together, right?”

“No,” they said at the same time which only caused Dick to sigh.

“What do I do about Cass?” Stephanie turned her attention back to Dick. “You married mommy, and you got Mr. Todd’s phone number, clearly you know how to talk to pretty people and make them like you.”

“Well how did you get to know Josh and Kathy?”

“They talked to me. And I was already friends with them.”

“Oh, are you talking about your crush on Cassandra?” Tim asked. “She is really pretty,” Tim agreed.

Dick watched Stephanie’s face turn a light shade of pink and couldn’t help but coo. “Aww honey, you’ve finally got your first experience of what it’s like to be nervous.”

“I'm not nervous!” She protested, but her face was even pinker.

“Yes you are, honey, and that’s perfectly okay. I was nervous the first time I tried to ask your mom on a date. I was also nervous when we met Mr.Todd.” Granted, most of that was due to the stress of his daughter using the man as a climbing pole. “The reason you freeze up trying to talk to Cass is because of all the little butterflies in here,” he wiggled his fingers at her tummy.

She giggled and moved away from his hands. “Have you called Mr. Todd yet then?” She asked.

“Not yet, unfortunately. But I will soon.” Dick had been a little busy with work and the kids, but maybe he’d call tonight.

“Can I listen when you do? So I can figure out what to say to Cass?” She gave him her best puppy dog eyes.

“Well I guess you can, but how I talk to Mr.Todd might be a bit different from how you would talk to Cass.”

She tilted her head. “Why? Aren't you trying to be his boyfriend?”

“Well yes, but how adults ask each other on dates can be very different from how you will. Why don’t you just offer to show Cass around the school?”

“They already assigned Tim to do that.” She shot Tim a look that made it seem like he had personally betrayed her even though it seemed like he'd just been picked for it. Tim just shrugged.

“Then Tim can introduce you to her, right Timmy?”

“I tried to. Stephanie ran away.” Her glare at Tim increased and she folded her arms over her chest.

“Like I said, you’re just nervous Steph. You just gotta take a deep breath and say hi to her and offer to play with her.”

“I can't though! I already ran away once. She probably thinks I'm weird.”

“Of course you can. Just try again. And if you’re anything like me, you can just tell her that she was so pretty you forgot how to talk.”

“Does that actually work for you?” She looked skeptical.

“Your mom laughed at me, but she did say yes.”

“I don't want her to laugh at me though.”

“I think you should just talk to her like everyone else,” Tim chimed in.

“What do you know? You've been doing that with Conner and he's still not your boyfriend.”

“Steph!” And she at least looked a little sheepish about it as she mumbled out an apology.

“Conner, your best friend?” Dick asked with a raised brow. He supposed he couldn’t be too surprised. Those two were pretty inseparable.

“I don't want to talk about it,” Tim mumbled, face red as he looked away from them.

“Aw sweetie,” Dick went to hug Tim, “Conner’s a good boy. I’m sure if you tell him he wouldn’t stop being friends with you. He probably even likes you back.” Because Dick knew that was what the real problem was.

Tim struggled in his arms. “I don't wanna talk about it,” he repeated. “Go back to Stephanie's crush. She didn't shut up about it on the bus the whole way home.”

“Okay okay, but remember what I said.” Dick let go of Tim to go back to Stephanie. “Honey, just be truthful to Cass and tell her you think she’s pretty and want to get to know her better. Conquer your butterflies. Besides, she has to think you’re really pretty too. There’s no one prettier than my little Stephanie.”

“You have to say that because you're my dad,” she told him, but she was smiling anyway.

“But it’s also true,” he ruffled her hair.

“Can I still say hi to Mr. Todd when you call him?”

“Of course you can. We should wait a little bit to call him though. He might still be at school.”

“But school is over.”

“But lots of teachers need to stay after for things like clubs, detention, or teacher meetings. Just because you’re done doesn’t mean they get to leave yet.”

“That's stupid. They should just go home,” she huffed.

“They still have work to do. We can call him when dinner’s over, okay?”

“Fine,” she mumbled, still looking a little miffed about it.

“How about you check on Damian while you wait. He’s supposed to be napping, but knowing him he could’ve snuck out of his bed awhile ago.”

“I don't want to check on Damian. He threw his juice box at me last time I did, and it stained my jacket.”

“Well right now he should only have his stuffed bat, so it shouldn’t stain anything. You can also bring Tim for backup.” Dick pulled Steph off the countertop to place her on the floor. “I’ll even give you a kiss for good luck.”

Stephanie pouted, but let him kiss her forehead and then dragged Tim to check on Damian.

* * *

“Can we call Mr. Todd now?” Stephanie asked when they'd finished dinner.

“Alright, we can call him.” Really he should have them help clear the table first, but he supposed he could just do that after. “Do you want to listen too, Timmy?” If he did then it would have to be an awkward family activity of his children listening to him try and get a date.

“No, I want to read the book my teacher let me borrow,” he said, taking the opportunity to get out of cleaning and making a break for his room.

“Okay, looks like it’s just you and me, Steph,” Dick said as he watched Damian climb off his booster seat and toddler over to his toys. Dick pulled out his phone and called Jason, putting him on speaker.

“Hey, I was starting to think I wasn't going to hear from you,” Jason answered, but he sounded like he was smiling.

“I meant to call earlier, but work and kids have been keeping me pretty busy. I’m not catching you at a bad time, am I?”

“I'm just making dinner, but the food is already in the oven, so not much for me to do with it at this point.”

“Meaning now is a good time to ask you if you’re free this weekend? I’ll even bring flowers if you’re into that sort of thing.”

Jason laughed, “I'm really not. Into flowers that is. They die after a few days, seems like a waste of your money. I am, however, free this weekend,” he answered.

Outwardly Dick might’ve seemed calm but that was entirely a show put on for Stephanie, because he definitely would’ve done a stupid dance if she wasn’t there, watching him intently. “Great! I’ll consider maybe wine instead, but we can talk about the details later. My daughter looks like she’s about to jump out of her chair to question you.”

“Steph is there?” He sounded a little surprised, and Dick couldn't blame him. He was sure most people didn't ask him out with their kid on the phone as well, but he didn't sound upset by it either.

“Hi Mr, Todd!” Stephanie answered.

“She’s having problems with asking someone out and doesn’t think my advice is good enough,” Dick explained.

“Well what did you tell her to do?” Jason asked.

“To just talk to her and tell her she thinks she’s pretty.” Dick tapped his chin consideringly, “I guess I should set an example of that. I think you’re real handsome, Jason.”

“Thank you, and same to you, but I've found the problem with your advice. Stephanie, you're nervous because you think this girl is pretty, right? But you already have a boyfriend and girlfriend-”

“I broke up with them for her. And they asked  _ me  _ out, totally different.” 

“Yeah, but if they both asked you out and didn't mind dating you at the same time you must be quite the catch. How many other six year olds can say that they're pretty enough to have two people who wanted to date them at the same time? You've got to remember how pretty you are and you'll feel less nervous about telling her how pretty she is. And you can wear whatever outfit you think you look best in so you feel even more confident,” he said, and she looked like she was considering the idea.

“I've got a purple dress and flower hair clips that I like,” she finally came up with.

“Do you feel confident when you wear those?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Then there you go. If you're aware of how good you look it evens the playing field some. You'll still be nervous, but maybe a little less.”

“Told you it wasn’t just dad bias,” Dick tapped her nose.

She batted his hand away, but grinned at him. “Yeah, okay, not totally dad bias.”

“How about you go dig out that dress and those clips so we don’t forget them tomorrow.”

“They’re at mommy’s house though,” she told him.

“Did you want to talk to Cass tomorrow or are you going to wait until after the weekend when you’re with mommy?” Dick would have to check if Babs was busy if she wanted the dress right away.

She paused, biting her lip as she considered it. “I wanna talk to her tomorrow.” 

“Smart move. Strike while the confidence is still high. You wait too long and you’ll start to get nervous again,” Jason told her. “Do you guys need to go call her mom?”

“I’ll call after I clean up dinner. Honey, you can go play with your brothers. Dad’s gonna flirt with Mr.Todd in ways that’ll embarrass you.”

“Ew,” she said, running off while Jason laughed.

“Nothing chases them away faster,” Dick chuckled, getting up to put away plates as he held his phone between his ear and shoulder.

“Well I think I heard something about embarrassing flirting. Care to elaborate?”

“Oho, have I finally found someone who’d like the hear my pick up lines and puns? Because you had this Dick’s full attention the minute he saw you,” he said, making sure to be quiet enough that the kids wouldn’t hear.

“Oh my god, no never mind, I don’t want to hear that,” Jason groaned, and he could practically hear the eye roll.

“I thought that was a great one,” Dick laughed.

“That was truly terrible, you’re so lucky you’re hot. And I’m glad you sent your daughter away before doing that so that she doesn’t pick it up from you. Maybe she’ll stand a chance if she never hears you flirt.”

“She thinks I’m a natural charmer because I was able to attract pretty people like you and her mom.”

“If you want her to keep thinking that never let her hear you make that kind of joke again.”

“No promises,” Dick practically sang. “But I think she has some details wrong, because I’m pretty sure it was me who was charmed by you. You just got to watch me freak out about my kids.”

“In your defense, I’d probably freak out too if I had a daughter and found her on top of some stranger’s shoulders.”

“Yeah, but I was also mildly impressed that you barely reacted to a random kid scaling you like a tower.” Although Dick still needed to talk to Steph about every reason why she shouldn’t do that ever again.

“Mostly because I wasn’t sure how to react to that, I pretty much just froze, it’s nothing to be impressed over. The only kid who’s ever done that to me is my niece, and she knew who I was.”

“I’m pretty sure Steph considered you someone she knew by association, which I guess isn’t wrong but hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”

“Well now she actually knows me, so I guess I’ll be ready for that next time.”

“Maybe expect it from Damian too. He’s a strong two year old.” Dick let the tap run over the dishes to let them soak. He could wash them later.

“Do I have to worry about Tim too?”

“No, he likes to approach new people with a lot of skepticism, so you're safe from him. But how you treat them just might be the key to more dates. Nothing more attractive than someone knowing how to handle my kids.” After all, he’d had plenty of dates that had backed out as soon as they found out he had three children. Someone who could handle that had long term potential.

“That sounds so weird, but I do have some experience with smaller kids. The niece I mentioned, Lian, she's seven,” Jason told him.

“My kids can be a bit more of a handful than most though, but I think you noticed that.” The calmest of his children still had a smart mouth and liked to prove everyone else wrong despite only being six.

“Consider me prepared.” A beeping sound started up in the background. “And that would be my oven demanding my attention. So I should probably go, and you can deal with the dress situation.”

“Alright, text me if you have any preferences for a date, otherwise it’s going to be take out and a movie at my place because I’m not going to be able to impress you with any cooking.”

“I could cook for you,” Jason offered. 

“It’s like you already know all the ways to my heart,” Dick sighed dramatically.

Jason gave an amused laugh at that. “I'll take that as a yes. Just text me the details and any allergies I should be aware of.”

“I can and will eat anything.”

“Good to know, talk to you later.” He said before disconnecting the call.

Now to hope that Babs wasn’t busy so he could pop over real quick. She’d understand the necessity of it the minute she got a glance at Steph’s pouty face if she was busy.

* * *

“Mr. Todd! Mr. Todd!” Stephanie ran over to him as soon as Dick let him inside.

“She wouldn’t let us leave until she got to see you,” a redheaded woman sitting on Dick’s couch told Jason.

“It worked! I wore the dress, and I felt confident, and I asked her to play with me, and she’s going to come over for a play date tomorrow!” Stephanie said excitedly, and Jason knelt down to be at eye level with her and grinned.

“That’s great! So, do you have a new girlfriend now, or are you working up to that?” He asked.

“I’m working up to it. I think after this playdate she’ll be sold though,” Steph told him, grinning back.

“She now thinks you’re the expert charmer,” Dick chuckled.

“She clearly doesn’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been on a date,” Jason chuckled, getting back to his feet, but she didn’t appear bothered by this.

At the word ‘date’ Damian toddled into view and right up to Jason, doing exactly what Dick warned him he could do, and scaled up him in a similar way Stephanie had done when they first met. Instead of climbing onto his shoulders though, Damian managed to somehow grip him by his collar and supported himself by digging the heels of his feet into Jason’s chest and the toddler glared at him.

“Damian!” Both Dick and the redhead called out, but the toddler just continued to glare at him.

“Hey buddy,” Jason smiled in spite of the glare, and wrapped his arms around Damian to help support him. “Damian, right? It’s nice to meet you.”

“Daddy mine!” That was probably the only thing Jason had ever heard Damian say. He had started to wonder if he could talk at all yet.

“Alright. And I’m not trying to take him from you,” Jason agreed. “Sharing him a little maybe, but definitely not stealing. In fact, if it makes you feel better and your mom’s okay with it, I brought enough food that you could stay and have dinner with us. All of you probably could.” It wasn’t exactly what he’d envisioned his first date with Dick being, but he also knew a good first impression with the kids was important.

“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Dick tried to peel Damian away from Jason. “C’mon Dami, let go of him.” Dick looked imploringly to the redhead. “Babs, help, please. Your son keeps trying to scare my dates away.”

“I think every time he does this he’s firmly established himself as your son.”

“It’s fine, really,” Jason assured him.

“Mr. Todd teaches high schoolers, he must be used to misbehaving children,” Tim muttered from the couch.

“Most of them don’t grab my shirt like this, and they’re a little taller, but yes,” Jason agreed.

“What do you teach?” Tim asked, and with the look he was giving Jason it felt a little like he was grilling him. At least he had Steph’s approval.

“Literature,” Jason answered.

“So like … advanced storytelling?” Tim didn’t look overly impressed, and Dick and Babs both gave him disapproving looks, but Jason only laughed.

“Sort of. Although I do more teaching them how to write about the stories than I do actual story telling,” he explained.

Tim did look a little swayed by this. “Story creator then.”

“I guess in a sense.”

“Well if you’re done trying to scare off your dad’s date, I think it’s time to head out,” Babs said, motioning for Dick to hand her Damian as she got up. “Thanks for the offer, Jason but I think Dick actually likes you, and the kids can get pretty good and vetting his dates. At least you have one on your side, that’s one more than usual.”

“I’m okay with him,” Tim decided. “For now.”

“Would you look at that. One and a half, I haven’t seen a better score yet,” Babs laughed, leading the kids out. “Enjoy your date, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” With the door firmly closed behind them, Dick slumped a little in relief.

“That could’ve gone a lot worse.”

“I thought it went pretty well,” Jason got back to his feet and grinned at Dick.

“Well I guess you’re not wrong about that. Babs wasn’t kidding about you having the best score so far, but don’t worry about Dami, he’s like that with some of my friends too.”

“So, I scored well enough that we’ve still got a date?”

“Well you scored well enough before the date even started when you gave Steph all that golden advice. I’m still not sure how I feel about my six year olds and dating, but I guess it’s innocent enough now.”

“My advice was mostly just trying to boost her confidence,” Jason laughed. “I didn’t really tell her to do much. If it helps though, Lian was married three times between five and six. At this age it's nothing to worry about.” 

“For Steph, probably not, I’m more worried about Tim, actually. He’s usually pretty closed off, I should’ve figured it was going to be his best friend that he’d have a crush on.” Dick led Jason to the kitchen, grabbing one of the bags out of his hand.

“Oh that’s tough. I’m sure he’ll be fine though. He’s still young. And maybe his friend likes him too.”

“That’s what I told him, but Tim likes to avoid talking about his feelings, and he’s not even a teenager yet.” Dick placed the bag down on the counter and rifled through the ingredients, “What are you planning to make?” Granted it wasn’t hard to top Dick’s very simple cooking method of boiling pasta and warming up a jar of premade pasta sauce.

“Salmon and tortellini,” Jason answered, putting down the other bags. “Sorry it’s a lot, I wasn’t sure if the kids were going to be here or not. I brought stuff for mac and cheese in case they were.”  

“Even with my planning of them being at their mom’s for the weekend, you were right to think ahead. If they had disapproved then you’d definitely be cooking for five or six tonight.”

“Is it too early for me to ask about that by the way? Because I totally don’t have to if that’s weird, and will go with whatever subject change you want.” 

“You mean Babs? It’s fine, it’s really not that weird. We had Steph and Tim when we were pretty young and got married because of that. By the time we had Dami we both knew it wasn’t working out and decided it would be healthier to split, but we were friends before we got together so we both thought it was just natural to stay friends.” Dick didn’t look bothered in the least telling Jason that, so it probably was just something they’d both gotten over. “The kids didn’t like seeing us constantly frustrated with each other, so they try and make sure we don’t end up with someone where it can happen again.”

“It’s nice that they care so much,” Jason smiled as he started to actually organize the ingredients he’d be using. “Be warned, you’ll probably also get vetted by Lian when you meet her. And her parents. They’ll be nicer about it though.”

“Well it’s only fair. My two year old tried to stare you down,” Dick laughed.

“I’m not sure tired is the word I’d use. He did a very good job at it.”

“Did you ever think a baby could get so intense? Even with all that baby fat in his cheeks he holds a mean glare.”

“Yeah, that was a little weird, I’ll admit. Although, glaring baby isn’t my takeaway from seeing your whole family. I’m still trying to figure out how you and a redhead had a blond child. Tim and Damian at least both look like you, even if I can’t picture you glaring like that.”

“Blonde was in the family somewhere in Babs’ family, just kinda happened. And I can hold a pretty mean glare, don’t underestimate.”

“Sure sure, so, are you gonna help me with all this food or not?”

“Well clearly I was just planning to stare at you and appreciate how good you look, but I guess if you insist,” Dick grinned.


End file.
